Until We Meet Again
by BastsCleopatra
Summary: A lonely woman visits the graveyard where most of her friends are buried. Her mind wrestles with grief, but comfort comes. After all, "The ones we love never truly leave us."


**Until We Meet Again**  
  
A raven-haired lady in her early forties walked silently into a graveyard one dark, moonless night. She was led by only the light from her wand, and the familiar path she took every year on this night.  
She wove around the headstones, a chilly breeze engulfing the solemn night. Clutching her cloak nearer her body, her stomach gave a nervous twinge as she approached her destination. She had come to these tombs every year for the past fifteen years, but this year a new grave had been dug. Stopping in front of two identical grave markers, she looked to the right and saw freshly upturned earth. She aimed her light at the headstone.  
  
** Sirius Black  
  
1966-2003  
  
** Sighing, she tried to hold in her tears. She did not understand why he—why they all—had to die so young. She turned back to the other two tombstones:  
  
** Lily Evans Potter James Potter  
  
1966-1989 1966-1989  
  
**Again, she felt the familiar lump in her throat and the tears surge to her eyes. Quietly, mournfully, she began a song of parting from her native land:  
  
_Aloha-oe, Aloha-oe,  
ikeona ona noho ikanipo  
_  
For a while, she gazed upon the graves of the friends, two full, and one empty. She did not move, other than to look at the tomb of another friend, Marlene McKinnon, buried a few meters away.  
Another cool breeze wafted through, carrying with it the voice of a man.  
"I see I'm not the only one who felt like reminiscing tonight."  
She turned. "Hello, Remus."  
"Hello, Halia." They stood in silence for a while, then,  
"It feels odd, you know." said Halia, breaking the silence. "Like we weren't supposed to live, off all people. It feels like they should be the ones alive. Goodness knows we'd need their senses of humor right now."  
"Yes. I agree," said Remus detachedly.  
"I remember they used to make everything feel better, back at Hogwarts. Like we could do anything, take on anyone."  
Remus stayed silent. He remembered. How they made the school laugh in times when it seemed impossible. When his friends made him laugh when he was feeling down about his condition. They had been there. For everyone.  
"It's not fair!" Halia said bitterly. "Marlene, Lily, Alice.... All dead, or may as well be." The tears were very close to falling now. Working very hard to keep her voice from shaking, Halia said, "Your friends, too.... James, Sirius, Peter, Frank...." A tear fell down her cheek. Others soon followed. "We're...the last ones left standing. Why?....Why?" she whispered. Remus put his arm around her shoulders, comforting her.  
"You know what Dumbledore always says. The ones we love never truly leave us. They live in us."  
"It's true," said an old, tired voice from behind them. Albus Dumbledore held his lit wand before him, throwing his wrinkles into shard relief, and making him look much more burdened than they had ever seen him.  
"Professor," said Remus.  
"Then why..." Halia began, voice shaking, still staring at the graves, "does my heart feel like it's shattered? I'll never see them again, Professor." She turned to him. "They're dead."  
"Your friends would not wish for you to mourn your life away. Live...for them. In honor of their memories. You will see them again," Dumbledore said in his mysterious, hushed voice.  
"Do you truly believe that?" Halia asked.  
"I rely on it," Dumbledore said seriously. "When you get to be my age, many old friends die. It makes one come to grips with one's own mortality. If I didn't believe I would see my friends again, I would cease to live, and thereby insult their memories. Take solace in the fact that, when the time is right, you shall be reunited."  
Dumbledore fixed his gaze on the gravestones, then said, "I believe it is time to leave."  
He turned to leave, and Remus and Halia went with him. Halia doubled back, however, and went back to the graves, Dumbledore's words still resonating in her mind. She conjured flowers for each of the graves, and sang the final verse.  
  
_ One fond embrace ahoea ea  
  
Until we meet again  
  
Until we meet again_  
  
The final note held quivering in the air, before the darkness swallowed it. A comforting aura surrounded Halia like a blanket, and she knew that Dumbledore was right. She left, whispering not good-bye, but,

"Until we meet again."

A/N: Just thought I'd be a bit nostalgic. This story came to me a couple nights ago at 12:30 in the morning, so I hope it's alright. Review and tell me what you think! Oh, and the song she sings belongs to Elvis Presley (apparently... I didn't know that till I looked up the lyrics), and Harry Potter belongs to JKR. And thanks to babynames.com for helping me find Halia's name, which means "memorial" in Hawaiian. 


End file.
